BEWARE!! dealing with CalOffroad

[Whitey Shockie Maker of the Month Award Find all posts View Profile Close Whitey]

3. its Not like its getting belted through the Dakar desert launching over sand dunes at 130klms an hour...... Seriously.... I'd say the same go's for 99% of the prados on this forum so fair to say that as a learned gentlemen I am more than comfortable to say that a 555mm strut would have been a complete balls up for a 3" lift on my Prado and that I am more than comfortable putting a 575 length strut on it....
And taking a few simple measurements can tell me that - no need to be a Physicist or Suspension expert to work that out right?

My guess is that if people have been stripping CV's and Front Diffs with 570'ish length struts then they were driving in a manner that they'd probably have stripped them anyway even if they been standard non modified vehicles anyway....

Exactly,

The point that zero makes here is clear, anyone can do measurements on their suspension and understand the limits of the geometry.

CalOffroad are selling a 3" lift kit which will not be road legal in Australia, and they provide a woefully inadequate open length strut of 555mm, which leaves your Prado with an extremely low 20-30mm of droop.

You cannot drive a Prado around with 3" lift and 20mm of droop, the struts will get repetitively topped-out and have a short life. Add to that likely mechanical failure the fact that driving under any conditions with 20-30mm of droop is an accident waiting to happen. I have personally driven a 120 Prado with 30mm of droop, and the front end lifted off at 80km/h on a sweeping bend, it is dangerous.

You need to run a long travel strut with a 3" lift, and for the 150 series, 575mm is the open length.

For those who want to argue further about the mechanical dangers of running long travel struts, Andrew and Zero have both pointed out the obvious, that it is a low risk scenario, dependent on how you drive your Prado. If you still wanna argue about it, then talk to ####, as he has done the research on how the front diff moves with shock loading.

I think after this discussion, it's important to get some droop measurements from anyone running the CalOffroad 3" lift kit in their Prado.

Best

Mark

[zerosecta Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close zerosecta]

Adding for the group struts were dellivered to Cal on the 3rd of March (last week Monday at 12:00, only just recieved confo of this from courier) Not sure how long it takes to fix struts but would have thought that some priority would have been given to these since Ive now had my car off the road for going on third week when including the issues with the springs.

I have also yet to see the refund for the Airbag Spacers I send back almost three weeks ago.

No update at this point if they will infact be send back today as promised.

[pjorek Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close pjorek]

I think I should get myself a new CalOffroad 3" lift kit.....NOT.

[zerosecta Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close zerosecta]

Cal Goodman.... Please Please Please get hold of me....

You acknowledged that you had my struts last weeks and that they were on the bench getting sorted, I now know that they arrived at you guys at 12:00 last week Monday.

You told me on the phone last week that they would be sent back today.

I have not heard anything from you guys and have tried calling your shop over 13 times between about 16:15 and 16:56 and all I get is answer machine.

Dude I am fricken struggling here without my car. Please throw me a bone man, I was truly expecting you'd be calling me again personally today after our call last week to tell me that my struts are packed up and on thier way back??????

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Cheap lift kit on eBay soon I suspect...



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[REN470 Member Find all posts View Profile Close REN470]

Hi,


Man I know you've been through the wringer with this but really, you bought a suspension package mail order from someone in Berridale NSW with a population of 844 and you're wondering where you went wrong? When they offered you your money back in the early days you should have jumped at it. I drive through there regularly to a place we have in Jindabyne and I'm sure they made that little movie with Burt Reynolds in it "Deliverance" maybe you've heard of it? The pub still serves KB's - Joking of course, beautiful place but buying a couple of thou worth of suspension — not me.

[zerosecta Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close zerosecta]

OK - I received an email at 17:20 15min after my last post above :-) (coincidence i expect) that the Struts have been sent back this afternoon.

[zerosecta Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close zerosecta]

Cheap lift kit on eBay soon I suspect...
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Once I get the struts back I am hopeful that we are good... If not however then yes, cutting my loss's and going elsewhere for any further help required.

[zerosecta Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close zerosecta]

Hi,
Man I know you've been through the wringer with this but really, you bought a suspension package mail order from someone in Berridale NSW with a population of 844 and you're wondering where you went wrong? When they offered you your money back in the early days you should have jumped at it. I drive through there regularly to a place we have in Jindabyne and I'm sure they made that little movie with Burt Reynolds in it "Deliverance" maybe you've heard of it? The pub still serves KB's - Joking of course, beautiful place but buying a couple of thou worth of suspension — not me.

Yip, lesson learnt mate :-)

[christofurry Member Find all posts View Profile Close christofurry]

Wow.. Interesting read with some good and bad points raised.

Im a little disheartened at how quick and the shear number of replies with people suggesting lawyers, suing, commissions, ACCC etc etc etc. I respect that someone handed over some hard earned cash for a product, but this is Australia, not the US where everybody sues each other at the drop of a hat. If it gets seriously hard for two people to talk to one another, then communication through a mediator will sort 99% of problems. Rant over.

I have Caloffroad 3 inch kit, including diff drop, UCA's, and sway bar extensions. My build thread can be found here and about page 3/4 the suspension starts.

http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread...-Altitude-quot

Personally I did my research and it can down to either Caloffroad or an Autocraft kit with Icon's or Kings. But the extra 2K for the kings put me off. Superior did some work on my old cruiser, but I just wasnt keen in Armarda's.

Ive found Cal to be very approachable, helpful and non biased when it came to advice. Im pretty sure Cal in one of two Bilstien importers into Australia, the rest are resellers.

Regarding my car, I couldnt be happier. Any questions please feel free to ask.


Happy to jam it onto a jack this afternoon and take a droop measurements from Rim to guard.

Cheers
Chris

[zerosecta Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close zerosecta]

Chris - Agree totally with your comments about sueing and lawers etc. hence why I have hung in there in getting it sorted. :-)

(that said I have decided that if I dont see the refund for the airbag spacers I sent back weeks ago by tomorrow COB then they'll be getting a case number from Vcat to them by Friday arvo for sure)

And I am glad that you have responded with your experiance and that you are happy with your Kit... As I have said I am still 100% keen on it and looking forward to having it orginised.

Unfortunatley, my case may simply be one of wrong place at the wrong time being after x-mas and clearly where it has all gone horribly wrong for me (Cal actually) is I wasnt at any time dealing with him.

Anyway good job for posting your story mate. With any luck next week this time I'll be raving about how happy I am with my setup as well. - Thats not to say that I would reccomend any of my freinds go though CalOffroad I'm sorry to say.

[mjrandom Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close mjrandom]

Chris please post up the droop measurement. Very interested.

[Whitey Shockie Maker of the Month Award Find all posts View Profile Close Whitey]

...second that, let's see what droop you have!

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Bottom line if a supplier is screwing you around and won't return calls and has your vehicle up on blocks for months.. Mediators won't do shite..
But or other legal avenues will however get you some $$ recourse for the trouble they have caused.
And hopefully a rapid resolve.

It amazing how quickly a properly legally worded letter can sort issues out compared to months of back and forth thru "mediators"..

Personally. If this is the service a supplier exhibits to "get your money" I'd really hate to see what it's like "if" you have a warranty problem that's actually going to cost them money.. Good luck with that..



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[tassie tiger Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close tassie tiger]

Solely from a legal perspective;

Under the Australian Consumer Law;

- Zero is responsible for the costs of returning goods
- The trader is responsible for the sending the replacement goods out
- Zero is doing the right thing engaging with the trader to sort out the problem
- The trader has done the right thing both by offering a full refund and, when rejected, has continued to attempt to rectify the issues

Fair Trading can assist with mediation if communication breaks down.
Fair Trading cannot force the trader to do anything
Fair Trading can investigate a breach of the ACL, particularly section 158.
Based on the story so far no breach has occurred (yet).

Good luck with it all Zero.